Meadowlark Monday in South Dakota

It was a cold March Monday in South Dakota, and meadowlarks were singing every time I went out the door of our travel trailer! 

I used to think that birds sang because they were happy, but I learned that it was more that birds were territorial! Or because they were searching for a mate.

But it doesn't really matter, I guess. I just love to hear them sing.  

 

On Tuesday even more meadowlarks were singing. One was perched on the power pole and another at the tip top of a tree in the draw.

Today as I climbed the grassy hillside for the second time in the morning to get my exercise in, I listened to them all over again. It had snowed last night, and the cold had a bite to it, but the meadowlarks were still singing!

 In these uncertain days I can't help thinking about the beautiful songs of the meadowlarks.

They made me think of Christians who sing. Usually we think of singing Christians as being happy. But sometimes we sing not necessarily because we are happy, but because we are territorial. We know to whom we belong and we sing to let God, ourselves, and others know that we and the world around us belong to Him. Our family belongs to Him. All the area around us belongs to Him and not to other gods or to the devil. 

 

A few weeks ago when we were up in South Dakota we visited one of the mission churches. As we were preparing to leave after the service the pastor's wife turned up the

music that had been turned way low during the service. There is so much trouble in their area with demons and devils that they literally keep Christian music playing in their church as a deterrent! Children who come to their service say, "Why do we not see devils here like we do over there in the trees?" They literally see devils over in the grove next to the church property. But at the church the devil is missing! That's because this building and this property belong to God! And the music that we sing says so! 

Due to troubles, griefs, and disappointments, we may not always be happy, and we may not sing because we are free, for the simple reason that perhaps we are not free. Some of our brothers and sisters are in prison for their faith. And although we are free as Christians, we His servants often go through a lot of suffering. We may not feel like singing, but we still sing. We sing out of obedience and out of trust. We sing because we belong to God and because this world belongs to Him. We sing because we want Him to know that we love Him and that we want to be His and for Him to be ours. Today this last week in March, let's be Meadowlark Christians, singing whether we are happy and free or not!

We can sing because we belong to Christ,  and that is enough to sing about!

Apple Fritters and Ranch Critters

Rose made apple fritters the other day--especially for Tommy, who loves them!

That is just once in a very long while that there are fritters on the ranch. 

But all day, every day, there are critters. 

Our kitten and dogs get along pretty well-- 

at least most of the time.

Rose hatched out a batch of chicks two or three weeks ago. 

We kept them in a warm trough by the woodstove.  

I guess the goat thought she wasn't getting enough hay, so she sneaked into the hay shed.

 

Going for a walk up above the park with our friends one Sunday.

And still more critters! 

And then Rose hatched still more critters--about a dozen baby chicks which I caught her and Tommy admiring Sunday when we were home for dinner after church.

Our critters are definitely a joy around here!

Creating Uncomfortable Environment for Cancer

Every so often I have to brew a new batch of my 8-herb tea which I am taking relentlessly three times a day, along with a lot of other things.

Rose, having come in from doing her chores in the dark with her headlamp, helped me one evening with holding a sandwich bag open while I poured the powdered herb into it to measure exactly 4 ounces.That is enough to make one gallon of tea.

I used my postal scales.    

Here's one of the jars of essiac tea, and I've just poured my 3-ounce serving into a glass. Recently I've also been adding a few drops of bloodroot tincture to it. A distant relative recommended bloodroot, as her husband had been using it successfully to keep his cancer in check. I also read testimonials of people who'd added blood root along with essiac tea who had amazing results with their cancer.

I also made two loaves of gluten-free bread that day, because it's tough not being able to eat bread with gluten in it, so one option is to make gluten-free bread.

An hour after drinking the essiac tea in the mornings, I make myself lemon water with half teaspoon soda and a little stevia. 

Lemons, surprisingly, are very alkaline, as is baking soda. 

I've been able to keep my pH level in the neutral to slightly alkaline range with the protocol I'm on. Cancer thrives in an acidic environment, caused by sugar and animal products, I understand, so I am working at eating and drinking what will bring my pH level up to alkaline. Cancer can't live in an alkaline environment. 

Among other things I've read about cancer, it can even be caused by stress or emotional issues. 

Which is why, if one wants to heal from anything, he must make sure his heart is free from bitterness and anger,

and that those acidic attitudes are replaced with forgiveness and grace. 

Just as I am having to watch that my diet is free of what will cause an acid environment in my body, I must also watch that my heart is free of bitterness, and full of joy.

This takes as much effort as brewing tea, juicing lemons, and baking gluten-free bread.

Cultivating thankfulness is one way to create an environment for healing to take place.

There was just something about the early morning sunshine coming in the sliding glass doors a few mornings ago, 

lighting up the towels and dish cloths and wash cloths I was folding.

There had been a huge laundry that Saturday after arriving home from over a week away to South Dakota.  

But the light, the brightness, and the warmth that morning were a blessing. 

Lord, I pray that You will keep my heart free from bitterness, just as I strive to keep my body free from acidity. 

Help me to learn to cast the cares of the world on Your broad shoulders each day,

so that I may live with joy and freedom and love for others. 

Do I Live to Eat, or Do I Live for Jesus?

 Today our family invited another young family home for dinner after church. They are a precious family whose marriage and family life and life in general are all based on striving to follow God's Word. We've appreciated the passion we've seen in their lives and loved getting to hear their story today, how they came to Christ and how they came to find each other from far away.

After a ham dinner with the most scrumptious mashed potatoes, corn, carrots, veggie plate, biscuits with jam, and chocolate strawberry cake rolls, we adults visited while Rose and Tommy took the children for some little horse rides around the pasture. 

They also let the children strum some of the instruments downstairs while Carrie did dishes and I put away leftovers.

Hannah enjoyed holding their baby before they left in the late afternoon. No naps today, but it was worth it to encourage another family to be who God wants them to be right in the middle of a perverse culture. 

It was worth all the work to prepare a nice meal, even though I couldn't eat the biscuits or jam or chocolate strawberry cake roll. It's hard to watch everyone else enjoy those foods so much, while I try to focus on the visiting and not on what I cannot have.

I had even only taken a wee crumb of the bread served during communion in church this morning.  

But that crumb was as meaningful as any piece of bread I've eaten during communion.

"This meal reminds us that none of us is worthy," the preacher reminded us. Only Christ and His blood makes our hearts white as snow. 

It was good to be reminded once again, and to bask in humble gratitude in the truth that His blood was shed for me.

To drink a wee cup of the grape juice and remember His sacrifice. 

He gave up the glory of heaven to come and suffer on this earth and die on the cross, and I find it hard to give up some certain foods.

Tonight in bed I was going over in my mind how to try to keep managing a strict diet along with all the other cancer protocol and all the extra stresses laid on me right now, what with our house going on the market this coming weekend and having to constantly have it almost ready for showing at any given day, and going on another trip to South Dakota, and trying to stay sane. I was especially thinking about food, because when you can't have a bunch of what you have been used to, especially when everyone else around you can continue to eat it right in front of you, sometimes it's almost all you can think about! And I wasn't real happy about it. 

But about the time I was about to go on a major guilt trip about feeling grumpy about a different and not-very-fun diet, I felt something in my heart. 

It wasn't the Lord convicting me about despairing.

It was Jesus suddenly entering into my despair.

He was just suddenly there, letting me know that He had walked the path of suffering before me.

That He would be with me when I wanted so bad to just enjoy a biscuit or a piece of bread or just one slice of chocolate strawberry cake roll. 

 How kind He is when we are not doing too well at self-discipline or self-sacrifice, that He would just come and sit down with me at my bedside and let me know He was there for me. 

That I didn't have to give up nice things all alone.

It made me love Him more.

I can't believe He would treat me so kindly when I was having a hard time.  

It helped me remember that I do not live to eat, but I live for Jesus. 

"For me to live is Christ."

It is not toast or ham or chocolate cake roll or cream-filled doughnuts. 

It is Jesus.  

That's all.